Production and Technical Credits

It's the first of December. (At least it was when I was writing this intro the first time. I was only going to do a dozen or so releases, but the list ballooned well out of control.) This week kicks off our second annual Holiday Gift Guide with a look at some high definition releases, because nothing says holidays like a format war.
More...

There were six new releases on this week's sales chart, including the number one film of the week, The Transformers. That DVD sold 5.09 million units for opening week sales of $117.01 million, which was the best opening on the home market this year in terms of raw dollars. However, 300 sold more units, barely, at 5.10 million.
More...

This week we have the first of the summer blockbusters hitting the home market.
But, strangely, it was the last of the four $300 million movies that were released this year.
This signifies the unofficial start of the of the Christmas DVD rush season and I would expect every week massive blockbusters or super-special editions being release from now until the Boxing Day.
As for this week's best bets, I'm torn between two releases: Grindhouse - Planet Terror - Extended and Unrated - Two-Disc Special Edition and The Transformers - HD-DVD Edition.
I've giving both the DVD Pick of the Week honors, but I will add that while Grindhouse is the better movie, The Transformers will appeal to a wider audience.
(On a side note, this is the second time a HD-DVD release has earned the DVD Pick of the Week.
Blu-Ray better catch up to HD-DVD soon.)
More...

Spider-Man 3 earned a comfortable second place earning almost as much as the rest of the films on this list with $21.07 million on 10,365 screens in 76 markets for a total of $501.00 million. It is only the 14th film to reach that milestone while it became the 16th film to top $800 million worldwide and has already climbed into 14th place overall. The U.K. regained the lead as the best market for the film adding $2.58 million on 460 screens for a total of $61.09 million. Japan took in $2.36 million on 630 screens while France made $2.31 million on 866 screens as the only other two markets to top $2 million over the weekend and the film now has $47.79 million and $48.55 million respectively. There were a quartet of led by Brazil, ($1.29 million for the weekend and $21.55 million in total); Spain, ($1.29 million / $22.49 million); Mexico, ($1.22 million / $32.90 million); and Germany, ($1.01 million / $27.16 million).
More...

Mr. Bean's Holiday fell one spot out of the top five this weekend despite showing some significant growth. The film did have a few openings, including a third place $165,000 debut on 56 screens in Turkey, but its biggest market was Germany where it grew 44% to $651,000 on 577 screens for the weekend and $22.52 million in total. Overall the film added $3.47 million on 2634 screens in 43 markets for a total of $176.19 million internationally with debuts in South Korea, Japan, and China, yet to come, (and of course it doesn't open here till August).
More...

The competition is still being pushed down by Spider-Man 3 and although there were half a dozen new releases to chart this week, it was still impossible to fill out a top 30 chart with any real details. For instance, Next had no major openings and its best midlevel was a second place debut in Malaysia with $115,000 on 30 screens. However, it was still able to remain in sixth place with $2.45 million on 1347 screens in 19 markets while its running total has grown to $18.94 million.
More...

With Spider-Man 3 dominating the global market last weekend, there was very little else happening on the international charts that was newsworthy. With little in the way of new releases, or even expansion for holdovers, it was impossible just to fill out a top 30 chart. And with several films expected to attempt a worldwide opening over the next couple months, it will likely be that way till mid-August.
More...

300 was knocked out of the top five this week but still added $3.82 million on 3,537 screens in 52 markets for a total of $223.77 million.
The film has yet to open in Japan, but that's about it at this point and there's little hope that the movie will hit any more milestones from now until then.
However, it is already a massive hit and a huge financial boon for the studio, so everything it does earn will be pure gravy.
More...

The Reaping climbed into sixth place this past weekend with $5.98 million on 2634 screens in 39 markets for a total of just $20.38 million. The film had a couple respectable openings including South Korea where it made $1.17 million on 129 screens over the weekend and $1.34 million in total while it took in $335,000 in Brazil. However, in most markets the film stumbled, like in France where is placed seventh with $684,000 or the the U.K. where it placed eighth with $622,000 on 282 screens. The film debuted in ninth place in Australia, ($405,000 on 133 screens); in Russia, ($261,000 on 111); and in Germany, ($247,000 on 201). Mexico became the film's best market as it has pulled in $4.45 million in three weeks, including $589,000 on 350 screens this past weekend; this is just ahead of the $4.25 million the film has earned in Spain, but it only managed $334,000 on 299 screens this past weekend and will quickly disappear there.
More...

Sunshine climbed into sixth place with $5.20 million on 1866 screens in 30 markets for a total of $10.20 million. However, while it nearly doubled last week's opening, this was entirely due to the film's expansion. Its biggest market of the weekend was France where it placed fourth with $1.36 million on 339 screens while it placed eighth in its debut in Australia with just $611,000 on 161 screens. On the other hand, the film only managed $508,000 on 192 screens during its debut in Japan and while likely see a sharp drop-off next weekend given its weak per screen average. Meanwhile in the U.K. the film suffered the worst week-to-week drop-off in the top ten down 57% to $879,000 on 409 screens over the weekend and a total of $4.45 million in total.
More...

The weekend box office numbers were mixed. On the one hand, there was a small drop in the overall box office numbers with the total ticket sales coming in at $119 million, which was 4% lower than last weekend and 1% lower than the same weekend last year. However, while that's hardly a reason to worry, there were six wide releases meaning the merely average box office numbers had to divided up amongst a crowded field and that really hurt a lot of the new releases. In fact, only one of the six had any real reason to celebrate.
More...

Mr. Bean's Holiday was able to repeat on top of the international charts this week thanks to a mix of impressive openings and strong holdovers. For instance, the film opened in first place in Italy with a strong $2.34 million on 421 screens while it had to settle for fourth place in Mexico with $897,000 on 271 screens over the weekend and $1.12 million in total. The film's best market was U.K. where it added $4.81 million on 511 screens to its total of $28.06 million. It also held up well in Germany down 21% to $4.45 million on 840 screens to $13.30 million after two weeks while in Australia it was down 28% to $2.24 million for the weekend and $6.60 million in total.
Additionally, it had to go against the opening of 300 in both, making the strong hold even more impressive.
Overall, the film added $30.78 million on 4,069 screens in 42 markets for a total of $86.91 million and analysts expect it to hit $100 million by tonight.
More...

No new release made much noise at the box office this weekend and, even with the holdovers holding on better than expected, the overall box office still slipped to $124 million.
That's roughly 3% lower than last weekend, but still 8% higher than the same weekend last year. Hopefully the new releases going 0 for 4 this weekend is a momentary blip and not a sign of weakness in the marketplace.
More...

It's the Saturday after Good Friday, which explains why this column was delayed one day. But while the Friday was good, this week's sites were mediocre, at least they were compared to high expectations. If this was January, it would be a great list. However, at this point of the year I'm expecting one potential summer blockbuster to have a major website launch each week, and that didn't happen this time. We still had an award-worthy effort with Grindhouse - Official Site.
More...

Tomorrow the the horrorremakeBlack Christmas is coming on an Unrated DVD, so it's quite a coincidence that it is snowing where I live. It's April 2nd, and it's snowing here. Yes, I live in Canada, but in this part of Canada there is a less than 50 / 50 chance that we get snow on Christmas Day and it is practically unheard of to get snow in March. Yet here it is snowing in April. This is freaking me out. I'm expecting to start hailing, then it will rain frogs, and before you know it AnnaSophia Robb is hanging around with Hilary Swank trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
I'm telling you, this is a sign of the end times!
Repent! Repent! ...

Moving on.

As previously stated, Black Christmas - Unrated Edition is coming out on DVD and it is the spotlight prize on this week's contest, but not the only prize.
In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of The Reaping.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Black Christmas - Unrated Edition and a copy of Princesas on DVD.
Meanwhile, the person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday, without going under, will also win Black Christmas - Unrated Edition and a copy of Princesas on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...

April is an interesting month to open a movie. Interesting, but not a particularly good month. This year it does start with Easter, but that's traditionally not a strong long weekend. Only one movie has topped $40 million over that weekend and only one other has cracked $30 million. Worst still, it's jammed right up against May, the start of the summer blockbusters season.
Ironically, the closer you get to this most lucrative time of year, the tougher it is for films to make a buck.
No movie wants to open the weekend before Spider-man 3, for instance.
Overall, there are a few hits to be found in the month, and a few misses, but nothing that really stands out above the pack.
More...

We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
More...

Big week in terms of flash sites launching, but a tough one when it comes to picking a winner. There were several sites that were contenders, and a few that will likely be winners after a few more updates, but none that stood out as the best for the week. It's almost like there were so many that were so close to winning the award that none were able to stand out and get me excited. However, there was one site that was updated this week that did, The Simpsons Movie - Official Site. This site did get a new look, but the real draw here is the first full trailer, to go along with the three previous teasers. Is that enough to make it award worthy? No. But while my rational side was distracted by a game of Sudoku the Fanboy in me made that decisions, and all Fanboy freak-outs are legally binding. Hopefully the final site will live up to the award. I have a feeling it will.
More...

Good week for websites with a number of candidates for the top spot. In the end I went with Ghost Rider - Official Site, but there's a few others here that will undoubtedly win in the coming weeks.
More...

Another busy week, but unlike last week there was no massive blockbuster launching its flash site. Two sites stood out this week, (not counting past winners), and they are wildly different both in terms of style and in terms of the movie they are selling: Accepted - Official Site and World Trade Center - Official Site. The former is goofy and seriously immature, while the latter is one of the most emotional sites I've ever seen. In was nearly a coin flip, but in the end I went with Accepted - Official Site, but I would be willing to bet the other site will win before the movie comes out.
More...

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue
are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.